After months apart, Tom finally reunites with his family and the 2nd Mass. But the joyous reunion is cut short as Lexi undergoes a health crisis tied to her hybrid DNA. The crisis pits family members against one another as they fight over how to deal with Lexi’s illness. Anne goes to great lengths to save her daughter.

Verne Gay

Skies needs more horror. Less talk. More dramatic tension. Less (ummm) talk. More crazy, wild shootouts with the despicable aliens, who don't seem particularly bright, by the way. Less (all together now) talk.

Brian Lowry

Taken on its own terms, this eight-part series--which begins in the middle, months after aliens have invaded Earth, thus turning a ragtag New England band into modern colonial resistance--has its moments action-wise, but the soapier elements mostly fall flat.

Hank Stuever

Yet another dystopian vision with Steven Spielberg's brand name affixed to it (as executive producer), this time as a cheap-looking but occasionally intriguing sci-fi social study called Falling Skies.

James Poniewozik

Chris Conaton

Falling Skies' mix of compelling individuals helps to make its early use of formula less troublesome than it might have been. Later episodes develop interesting and diverse motives, as the 2nd Mass begins to figure out what the aliens are up to and how to fight them more effectively.

Rob Owen

The characters lack the depth of those in smarter, premium cable dramas like "The Walking Dead," but they do show some growth as the series goes on. What Falling Skies does best is create a sense of the struggle for survival.

Ed Bark

Robert Bianco

As is often the nature of such programs, Skies does ask you to accept a lot of clunky dialogue and a few too many easily spotted twists. Even so, fans of the genre can embrace it as a summer-viewing diversion--one that's likely to work even better for younger viewers, who haven't seen all the films from which it borrows.

Mark A. Perigard

Alan Sepinwall

Falling Skies is exactly what you'd expect it to be, only a very good example of it (and is at its best in Sunday's pilot), and an ideal summer series. For once, Spielberg and company got it right on the small screen.

Matthew Gilbert

Too often, TV's sci-fi creators fail to give us characters to identify with, focusing instead on special effects and plot manipulations. But the father-son-bond material in Falling Skies brings humanity to the story and grounds it in emotion rather than spectacle.

Curt Wagner

Falling Skies, although competently directed, acted and sometimes written, goes off on more than a few tangents and paint-by-numbers subplots of the genre. It's best when it sticks to the main thread, and that's the battle for survival and to learn what the six-legged freaks are doing with the children.

Nancy DeWolf Smith

Matt Roush

When resting between thrilling action scenes, it's all very earnest, never campy or cheesy--but not particularly sophisticated or deep, either. It doesn't really have to be as long as it's entertaining. By those standards, Falling Skies succeeds.

Mary McNamara

Serious without being grim, uplifting without being saccharine, Falling Skies dares to image what feature films will not--a world in which Will Smith or Aaron Eckhart did not bring down the mother ship in time.

Linda Stasi

Phillip Maciak

The show, on the model of other epic sci-fi programs like Battlestar Galactica and The X-Files, still has the potential to break ground. But for now, it's telling a gripping, well-made story; it might not be ready to be appreciated as art, but it's impossible not to love it as entertainment.